Black Widow: Scarlett Johansson Interview

As her third time playing the role of the Black Widow, this time around, Scarlett Johansson’s character starts to show her alter ego Natasha’s personality, and we begin to understand her a little more. In CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, she makes being a woman superhero look like something I want to be when I grow up!

When she walks into the room, you can tell she is comfortable, looking amazing as you would expect. She loves playing this character. I mean playing such a sexy, intelligent superhero, it’s easy to see why. I love the interview Scarlett gave, for she talks about a possible Black Widow movie, stunts, and that body hugging costume she calls badass, and yeah, I agree.

Black Widow: Scarlett Johansson Interview

Q: When are we gonna see the Black Widow movie?

SCARLETT: The thing about working with Marvel that I appreciate certainly and I think fans appreciate is how loud the audience voice is you know, kind of resounds in their ears. I think because Marvel, and particularly Kevin Feige, is such a fan of the source material himself and understands that the fans are kind of what drive this train. If people want that, want to see that foam, I’m sure that we can get something together.

Q: The fans would love it!

SCARLETT: Yeah, I agree. But, you know, it’s a great, it’s either this character I love playing or she’s got such great source material I think it would be wonderful to have the challenge of doing a female superhero movie where the protagonist didn’t kind of rest on her feminine wiles and, you know, use every opportunity to strike a sexy pose in order to get the job done. She uses her brain, wit and feminine wiles to get the job done. She’s a very playful character and also a character that has a really compelling story. Because she has a kind of a gray moral code. She’s not black and white. And, I think it could be really a fun opportunity to have. So, we’ll see. If you request it, they will come.

Q: In this film she’s like cupid? Why the transition?

SCARLETT: Um, that’s interesting. Well first of all when the character is talking to Loki, she’s kind of putting up this front obviously. She’s not, as we come to realize, is not being completely honest with him. It’s partly for her widow face that she wears. And in this film we really get to see a lot more of Natasha. I like to think that Natasha has a romantic side. She’s been really damaged. I think that she very early on in the past probably learned to not care too much about people because they could be easily taken away from her and used against her. She probably didn’t want to hurt the people that she loved the most. And so she never needs them or never invested too much in them knowing that it would probably put them in danger. I think that she hopes that for someone like Cap- you know particularly Steve. Because I think she sees someone who could have sort of have his life enriched by sharing it with somebody. That she sees someone that kind of yearns for that, but is also scarred by the series of events that have changed his life. And maybe she’s kind of sees in Steve a little bit of herself and wants something more for him.

Q: Do you enjoy having your character mature?

SCARLETT: Yeah, I mean it’s been interesting. Of course when I went in to do Avengers after having done Iron Man 2 which you kind of don’t know a lot about the character, right, you sort of see her in widow mode. I met with Joss and we started talking and he did a bunch of research. I didn’t know if the character would work, or the audience would like her. Like my version of her. Once it became clear they did and I got the opportunity to explore more of her back story in Avengers, it really started to kind of carve out what my kind of version of Natasha, what my reality could be. Because, I mean obviously it’s one of the oldest female superheroes. Probably the oldest one, and she’s got this vast library of source material and has had many incarnations and many different people have their hand in her stories. She’s made all kinds of connections and love interests and failures, and she’s been good and bad in everything. And so we wanted to make sure that the story felt contemporary, obviously. You know, I wouldn’t have a cold war kind of backstory, did it make sense, and we had to kind of tailor it to my AGENT, like what my experience would be. It’s been great to be able to reveal little pieces of that. Um, I think it’s kind of like these little Easter eggs for the fans. I’ll wink at the audience when you kind of learn a little bit about her, you know, KGB past, or whatever kind of task she’s been set on. You kind of discover her as, as I discover her as well. And it’s fun to do that.

Q: Tell us about the stunts you did.

SCARLETT: Well first of all, my stunt girlfriend is this wonderful, wonderful stunt woman by the name of Heidi Moneymaker – that’s her real name. And, yeah, she’s awesome. That’s awesome. She’s awesome. This is our third (time working together). She’s played the widow every time along with me. So we have really worked together from the beginning to develop this fighting style that you see. We want to keep the consistency of it, it’s such a fun, it’s such a playful kind of, fighting style. You know, it’s badass but it’s kind of sexy. It’s a little bit like flirtatious, I guess, the style. And it’s balletic giving a kind of a little, a nod to her past gymnastics. That’s a bit of a nod to Heidi’s past, kind of quality to it. And of course the Muay Thai and whatever else she would have learned with her kind of global experience. And, in Iron Man, the fight sequences were really pretty and fantastic. A lot of like kind of gimmicky things that were just really fun to watch. In Avengers, of course, the weaponry, there was a lot more kind of gun play and stuff like that. And wielding all kinds of crazy alien guns, and that was a mess. I just can’t tell you how painful that is. But this time around, a lot of the fighting was pretty gritty. A lot of it is kind of handheld weapons. It actually made it a lot easier for me because first of all the crazy acrobatic stuff that you see I start and finish, and then Heidi does ridiculous things with her body that I could never do. Even if it was my job. She’s amazing. And deserves most of the credit. A very brave and very inspiring person. I just basically wound myself trying to emulate whatever she does. Hopefully they can use as much of my face as possible. I like to do it, too. I wanna be as involved as I can. The stunt guys are, I don’t know, they let me do it ‘cause they’re nuts. So. (Laughing) There’s a big insurance policy on the film.

Q: Tell us about the Black Widow costume.

SCARLETT: The Widow costume is, I have to say, it’s probably the most comfortable of the superhero suits because it doesn’t require a built-in air conditioning unit, like Hemsworth does. I don’t have under armor. I don’t have a huge leather cape, headdress, whatever, all that stuff. You know, it’s pretty straight forward. It’s kinda like a wet suit actually. I’m always amazed when it goes on and zips up. I’m like, wow. It’s on. It’s totally empowering because, once you get the belt and the gloves and the bracelets and your guns and the boots, it looks great. It’s badass and when I have my legs wrapped around some giant stunt guy’s head or whatever, and feeling totally ridiculous hanging on for dear life, it sells it. Totally sells things that would otherwise look absolutely absurd. It changes the way you stand. It changes your posture. You’re more aware of your body, obviously. I think when you walk on the set everybody’s like, yeah, it’s the Widow. Looks good. I’ve grown to love it. First I was terrified of it. Now I embrace it because, you know, it embraces me, actually. I work hard to get into it so I’m proud to wear it. It’s fun. And then, of course, kids love it which is great because really it looks very superhero-esque and my friend’s kids that are girls, they love the way that it looks. That it’s actually, it’s kind of utilitarian but it’s got the feminine thing going to it. It’s fun for them to have that to put on as opposed to like the tiny little skirt. (Laughing) A little cover-up with a tutu, stuff like that.

Isn’t it funny to see the Black Widow playing cupid? Ahhh, I am so excited to see this movie for the 3rd time this coming weekend. It’s hands down my favorite Marvel movie to date! It’s so good! I mean, from watching the trailer, I am sure the taste is making you hungry for more!

*I was invited by Disney to this all expense paid event. All images are from Disney and Marvel and given to me for promotional purposes. All opinions are always my own.

Tara began her blog in 2012 becoming an Influencer of the things she shares online. Trippin' with Tara is a lifestyle blog with heavy entertainment and travel coverage, but don't be surprised by some great food and product reviews in the mix.Read more

Tara Salinas

Welcome to Trippin' with Tara!

A little about me? After spending years growing social media and blogger connections for a company in the heart of Central Florida, I began Trippin' with Tara. This gave me a platform to become an online Influencer. I love to connect bloggers and brands, so I do social media consulting and plan exciting blogger events. trippinwithtara@gmail.com Read more